1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to integrated circuits and, in particular, to systems and methods for maintaining board signal integrity.
2. Description of the Related Art
Integrated circuits (IC's) are electrical circuits which incorporate transistors, resistors, capacitors, and other components onto a single semiconductor "chip" in which the components are interconnected to perform a given function. Typical examples of IC's include microprocessors, programmable logic devices (PLDs), electrically erasable programmable memory devices (EEPROMs), random access memory devices (RAMs), operational amplifiers and voltage regulators, among others. Typically, such IC's are incorporated into an electronic system by packaging the IC's, e.g., providing interconnections between and/or among various IC's and/or other electronic components for providing transmission paths for signals of the electronic system.
During transmission through an electronic system, signals are propagated among and/or through various components. For instance, a signal, e.g., a chip pad signal, typically is provided to the pad(s) of a package, with the package then providing another signal, e.g., a board signal, to a mother board, for example. Since signals, such as chip pad signals, are being adapted with what appear to be ever-increasing frequencies, these signals tend to be distorted by interfaces, such as driver-to-package and package-to-board interfaces, for instance, oftentimes resulting in less than desired electrical performance of the system.
Therefore, there is a need for devices, systems and methods which address these and other shortcomings of the prior art.